Oct 19 2021
Associate Professor MAEKAWA Tomoki (Research Professor at the Institute of Research Promotion) of the Faculty of Dentistry received the Catalyst Award for the Healthy Longevity Grand Challenge (HLGC) advocated by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).
The Healthy Longevity Grand Challenge (HLGC) searches for excellent ideas from all over the world in a wide range of genres that contribute to people's health and longevity to solve the problems of the aging society that is advancing around the world and promotes innovation creation. In addition to the National Academy of Medicine, nine overseas institutions including the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) are cooperating and participating.
The Catalyst Award is for new and innovative ideas that can contribute to realizing healthy longevity. The winners of the 2nd Catalyst Award were announced at the Healthy Longevity Global Innovator Summit held online on September 22, 2021 where Associate Professor Maekawa was selected.
The Correlation of ectopic calcification signatures in the ageing eye and cardiovascular system
With aging and senescing, calcification occurs in the blood vessels of the heart and brain and also in the eye. These ectopic calcifications are the main causes of age-related macular degeneration, which often leads to blindness, as well as stroke and heart failure, which have a high fatality rate. However, much is still unknown about the causes and treatments for ectopic calcification due to aging.
In recent years, non-invasive retinal imaging (OCT) in animal models has been developed and demonstrated that similar ectopic calcification exists in both vascular tissue and the retina. Retinal OCT is less invasive and more affordable than direct visualization of the inside of blood vessels, which simplifies its use. Therefore, if there is a correlation between retinal calcification and cardiovascular calcification, it is highly likely that retinal OCT can be applied to the diagnosis of cardiovascular calcification.
In this study, we also focus on DEL-1, which decreases with aging. Preliminary experiments have revealed a correlation between formation of calcification and its mechanism in vascular and retinal cells isolated from aged mice. Furthermore, the addition of recombinant DEL-1 suppress calcification, suggesting that DEL-1 may be a therapeutic strategy for treating ectopic calcification.
Thus, A) Retinal imaging can be used to non-invasively predict ectopic calcification of the cardiovascular system, which leads to developing preemptive medicine for healthy longevity. These clinical studies are underway in the United States and Singapore and are expected to develop in the future. Moreover, B) if DEL-1 or its inducers can suppress ectopic calcification, inflammation and fibrosis associated with aging, it will be possible to provide new therapeutic strategies that contribute to healthy longevity. The selection of the DEL-1 inducer has been completed and the patent application has been filed.
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